Medallion-locket.



No. 68!,336. Patented Aug. 27, l90l.

D. D. NEVINS.. I

MEDALLION LOCKET.

(Application filed Jan. 81, 1901.)

(No Modul rm: nblms runs 50.. PMOYDLITHQ, wumusmn, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE.

DAVID D. NEVINS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE BASSETT JEWELRY 00., OF NEXV JERSEY.

MEDALLION-LOCKET.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 681,336, dated August 27, 1901.

Application filed January 31, 1901. Serial No. 45,438. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID D. NEVINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Medallion-Lockets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanyin g drawings.

My invention relates to lockets and novelties intended for concealment of their interior and disclosable only at the option of the wearer, and has for its primary objects a cheap and simple construction and one which maybe utilized even in a locket of minimum thickness, such as medallions.

To these ends my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangements of parts hereinafter described with reference to the drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of my complete locket with cover raised and portrait removed; Fig. 2, a transverse central section of the same, showing the ring and joint in side elevation; Fig. 3, a similar view of the locket with cover and portrait in normal position Fig. 41-, a front View of the portrait and its frame. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective showing the manner of forming the prongs.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

My device is constructed by drawing up or otherwise forming from thin metal a shallow cylindrical or polygonal locket-body A, consisting of a base I) and wall a. the base a short distance from its periphery is a tube 0, and fixed to the wall exterior is a loop or ring d to admit the suspending-chain.

The locketcover e is a thin metal plate whose outline corresponds with that of the wall a, by which it is bounded after adj ustment. A tube 071, similar to c, is soldered to the inner face of the cover at a point nearer the periphery of the locket than the tube 0, but parallel to the latter. An oblong metal link a loosely traverses both the tubes 0 and m, thus forming a joint which possesses the efficiency of a double hinge between the cover and body. By arranging the tubes 0 and m and the link a in the manner described it will be seen that the same occupy an eccen- Soldered to.

tric position with relation to the body A and cover e, so that the cover a is hinged at one side of said body, and by applying inward pressure to the cover c at a point between the tube at and the adjacent portion of the periphery of the body A said cover fulcrums upon the link a, and hence that portion of the cover beyond the link rises in response to such inward pressure in order to permit access being had to the interior of the body A.

A frame 0 for carrying the portrait 5 may be of any desired construction so long as its contour conforms with the wall of the locket, and the plane of the frame-face lies sulficiently below the top of the wall to allow the cover 6 to rest within the wall flush with its top. The frame 0 is removable from the locket-body, and in the illustrated construction is provided with upwardly-projecting integral prongs t, which support the portrait s in its frame 0.

To disclose the contents of the locket when parts are in closed position, as shown in Fig.

3, the thumb-nail is pressed upon the exterior surface of the cover 0 at some point intermediate the tube m and the cover-periphery. This pressure converts the link it into a shifting fulcrum which raises that portion of the cover 6 opposite the portion pressed and simultaneously the link throws the cover laterally, so that the cover is completely disengaged from its seat within the wall and can then be raised, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be noted that my locket has the appearance when closed of a solid body, and no one but the wearer can determine how to operate the same even should he suspect this possibility.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. In a locket, the combination of a chambered body for receiving the object, a cover seated inside of the body, and a concealed shiftable fulcrum inside of the body and having a hinge connection respectively with the base of the body and the inner side of the cover, said fulcrum being located contiguous to but removed from the periphery of the cover whereby an inward pressure upon the edge portion of the latter adjacent the hinge ward pressure upon the edge portion of the cover adjacent to the link efiects a displacement of the cover from its seat and an outward tilting thereof.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVVID D. NEVINS.

Witnesses:

LUDWIG J. ROCHE, HORATIO E. BELLoWs. 

